A 3rd party IS doing it and they do distribute their reports. Consumer Reports has been doing testing like this on a variety of stuff for over 70 years. They

A 3rd party IS doing it and they do distribute their reports. Consumer Reports has been doing testing like this on a variety of stuff for over 70 years. They don't take outside advertising or free samples to avoid bias. Their tests have held up in court as valid. They're really good. Next time you see a sketchy battery life claim by Apple [1], Acer [2], or anyone else, just take a glance to see if Consumer Reports has said anything about it. I'm not asking for you to take their word for granted, just consider it the opinion of a reputable 3rd party. [1] Testing MacBook Pro’s 8-hour battery life http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/04/testing-macbook-pros-8hour-battery-life.html http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/04/testing... [2] Acer laptop claims 8-hour battery life http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/04/acer-laptop-claims-8hour-battery-life.html http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/04/acer-la...